Dragonheart: The Reality?
by Concealed Eminence
Summary: Well, this is strange. One minute I'm in my back yard chasing someone, the next I'm in front of a River in the Dragonheart movie! Very strange in deed. Read on and follow my adventures in the greatest dragon movie ever! Epilogue Posted! Please R&R!
1. A Dragon, A Knight, A Monk and Me!

**Chapter 1: A Dragon, A Knight, A Monk, and Me! **

It was a beautiful spring Saturday morning! My room was fresh and clean, and I was laying on my bed, watching the TV with an amused expression on my face. My best friend, Ben, however, had an antagonized look on his face, sitting on the floor in his sleeping bag. I never understood his spite for the greatest movie in the world. Sure, it had a few quirks about it, such as "YOU ARE A CORPSE! YOU JUST DON'T KNOW IT!"

But other than that, I loved the movie to death. Well, can you blame me? Dragonheart IS pretty amazing. Anyway. So, we were in my room on a Saturday morning (Ben had spent the Night) and we were watching Dragonheart on my Television. Suddenly, the expression fell from my face, when I thought of how people always said how much better Braveheart was then Dragonheart. I never, ever, understood this. I hadn't seen Braveheart, oh no, but that was about the Scottish Revolution (or some such nonsense) whereas Dragonheart was about a Dragon. With a heart. Where was the connection?! There was none, other than the word 'heart' in the title!

Finally, I was happy again, because my favorite part of Dragonheart began to play! Well…the entire movie is my favorite part…but you get the gist. I had to completely and utterly resist the urge to mouth the words to myself, because I knew that Ben would easily become aggravated. Finally, I hit the pause button, and announced my need to use the restroom. I stood, and did so.

When I was relieved, I left the bathroom, and walked one step from the hall and back into my room. I paused when I saw, running through the expanse of my back yard, and turning in the middle of the green mossy grass down toward the creek trail, was a person in brown clothing.

"Who's that?" I asked, still watching. Ben looked over.

"I don't know."

I put my slippers on and grabbed my favorite black shirt and slipped it over my light blue tee-shirt. I didn't bother to button up the over-shirt I wore. I never did. But anyway, I continued. Ben, confused, followed. I ran outside, and followed down where the brown clad man ran. As I ran, I heard two swift

"Yoo-Hoo!"s.

I kept running, hopping over the log that blocked my way, before tripping, and falling face-first down a steep trail. I fell head over heels—literally—before I was able to get back up and look around. My eyes began to well up as I rubbed my back—which hurt like hell! When I was able to see clearly, I noticed that I was facing a very large boulder—which I was near inches from. Ouch. I was glad I didn't hit that. Then, I slowly began to panic, because I realized that this was not my creek! In fact…there was a waterfall ahead of me.

I stood up and followed the trail that went down to where the waterfall was whooshing. And then, over that, I began to hear voices.

"—verse, meter! Should I spice it up with a poetical flourish, or just the cold hard facts?!"

I blinked in surprise. I knew that voice…but it couldn't have been who I thought it was.

"If you do not be quiet, you and I shall be the only things cold and hard around here."

"The quill…is mightier than the sword!"

I continued walking. I knew this dialogue, but how could that be? As I rounded the corner, I froze in shock. I was in the exact same setting as in Dragonheart! Heck, I was IN Dragonheart! But again, how can that be?

"Brother Gilbert!"

"What?"

_"Shh!"_

I watched as Bowen made a hand gesture pointing to the cave. I chuckled a bit, because I knew that Draco wasn't in the cave. He was under Brother Gilbert, who continued to mumble. Then, he screamed, and was flung off Draco's head, and into the water. I thought this would be a good time to make an appearance, and so I did. I was concentrating on not tripping on a rock, when I heard Brother Gilbert scream, because he had just picked up the head of a dead man. "That's all that's left of the last dragon slayer who tangled with me! If I were you, I'd quit while I was ahead."

Bowen, who had thrown his spear at Draco, given a triumphant yell, and was turned around and looking at Brother Gilbert in the water, when…

"Is that the best you can do?" Draco cried, pulling the spear into his cave, from which cracking and snapping noises emerged. "Catch!"

The pieces came flying out, and were deflected by Bowen's shield. I turned around, expecting Ben to be behind me, watching the scene…but he wasn't. He was gone! I whirled around, looking for him, and looked back up the trail, but he was nowhere to be found. I turned back to see Bowen entering the cave.

"Into the mouth of Death he strode!" Brother Gilbert began to recite, "Into the gringy Gloom, Into the pit of fear unknown, Perhaps to corde his doom!"

And then, after a couple seconds, "That was good…What did I say? What did I say?!!"

I was now down, leaning on a rock. I was trying to keep my mind off what had just happened, and keep my mind on the here and now. (I know. Very Jedi like.) Then, Brother Gilbert noticed me, and stared at me with a very confused look on his face. His lips moved up and down, but no words came from his mouth. I simply smiled at him, and he stared. I looked back to the cave, and tried to listen.

"—You're one who kills dragons for money?" I heard Draco say, over the roar of the Waterfall—which might I add is very difficult to hear over. Of course, it was more of my memorization of the movie, than listening..but I still heard the voices.

"It's honest enough work…one must make a living." Bowen yelled.

"Oh yes…one must live." Draco replied, "But since you seek a profit..we might as well begin!"

"It's not just the profit…it's the pleasure!"

"Perhaps less pleasurable and more costly than you think!" –And at that moment, Draco came rushing out of the waterfall, and Bowen soon followed, jumping on his horse, and Brother Gilbert running after him, yelling. I soon followed.

"Take Care Bowen!! TAKE CARE BOWEN!"


	2. A Truce!

**[Author Note: This one was fun to write, but the one I'm really looking forward to is the camp scene. Hehe. But first, I have to elaborate on the second character to this story. Remember Ben from the first chapter? Yes, he plays a part in this too. I couldn't seriously leave out one of my best friends, could I:D The next one or two chapters will be about his adventures in the best movie of all time!

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**Chapter 2: A Truce! **

Brother Gilbert and I ended up walking for about an hour; Him on his mule, Merlin, and myself on foot. After the ordeal at the waterfall, I had began to worry as to if I would get back. Millions of what if's ran through my mind. What if I couldn't ever get back? What if I was stuck here forever? What if I DIED?! After I was able to calm down, Brother Gilbert began pestering me about my clothing. Why were they so different? Where was my weapon? Why didn't I have armor? Why did I have two shirts on? I eventually had to yell at him to get him to be quiet.

After an hour or so of walking, we heard Bowen screaming, and I gladly ran forward and past Brother Gilbert—who tried in vain to get his mule to run—I sat up on a hill in plain sight, looking around. When I looked down, I saw Bowen pulling out his sword and going to the dragon below us, and surprise surprise, Brother Gilbert began reciting more poetry.

"The sword against the fang and claw, the flame against the shield—blah blah, which one would win? Blah Blah, Shield, Wield, Who's…flesh from bone be peeled? Oh no…Who's fate would soon be sealed!" He paused, when he suddenly realized that Bowen was still fighting. He ran forward repeating "Who's fate would soon be sealed!"

I, meanwhile, was up on a small hill overlooking the whole battle, hoping to be in plain sight. I wasn't. Brother Gilbert was on the ground, watching as well. At the moment, it was a heated battle…mostly.

"Oh, you're good!" Bowen said, grinning. "'Haven't had this sort of challenge in some time."

"Nor likely to again!" Draco said angrily, snapping his tail end, so that it came out like scissors, and went back together. Then, Draco swung at Bowen with his tale like Bowen was a ball in a game. Bowen, on the other hand, tried to slice Draco's tail with his sword. Bowen jumped to avoid it, but was then hit in the chest with the tail, and slammed against the tree, which was also sliced. Brother Gilbert was standing next to me, swinging a stick.

As Bowen scrambled to get away from Draco's tail, he managed to jump over a log, which as he brought his tail down, Draco got it stuck. "Drat!" he cried, jerking it back to try and release it. Bowen stood up, and gave a small smile of victory.

"A little over confident, aren't we?" he asked.

"Hardly, but if you win, you'll be out of work." Draco said simply, still trying to release his tail.

"I will not stop until I've rid the world of every last one of you!" Bowen said angrily, the smile gone from his face.

"I am the last one!" Draco cried, his tail was still stuck as he took a breath in, and shot several fire balls at Bowen, who ran, and was saved with a pile of debris, which blew up and fell around him. I was sitting, still on the hill, watching the whole scene with great interest, like Brother Gilbert.

"You're just tryin' to save your scaly hide with tricks!" Bowen taunted, before angrily brushing some bark off his shoulder, and walking in a half-circle around Draco.

"Haven't you noticed the pickings are rather slim these days?!" Draco asked,

Bowen lifted his sword. "I got me one just the other day."

"So it was _you_ who kill the scarred one? She and I were the last." Draco replied. "Must have been a proud kill, warrior. How much gold did her tattered carcass put in your purse?"

"That's none of your business."

"Couldn't have been very much! And you'll kill me for sport? And when there are no more dragon's left to slay…" Draco looked down to where Bowen was watching. Though I already knew that was going to happen, I could see the gears in Draco's head turning. "How will you make a living, Knight?"

"Shut up!" Bowen cried. Draco suddenly pulled his leg back, which threw the rope Bowen was standing over up, and flung him up and onto the ground. He gave a long moan of pain, before Draco gave a small growl, and his jaws unhinged, as he went down and caught Bowen in his mouth. There was a small struggle, before Draco gave a small yelp when Bowen's sword got stuck in Draco's mouth roof.

"If your feet come down, My sword goes up, right into your brain!" Bowen cried. After this, there wasn't much to tell. I sat excited to see what happened that wasn't shown in the movie I watched back home. But, nothing of interest happened. The two simply sat there and struggled. After a couple minutes, I sank down and sat on the hill, half laying, with my back toward Draco and Bowen. After a couple hours of waiting, Brother Gilbert—who had obviously been more intrigued by their current behavior then I—eventually joined me by the hill. Soon enough, I dozed off.

"If your sword goes up, my teeth come down!" I was woken up by hearing Draco shout. Brother Gilbert was also away, fixated on what was happening.

"Into the moonlit night, the titans dueled. In mortal combat bound," Brother Gilbert began reciting. "Oh, who'd the fatal false step make? Who's blood would stain the ground?" He yawned. I yawned. I realized that I was doing, and then glared at him.

"Yawns are contagious." I said, before standing up and walking down, still groggy. Brother Gilbert seemed not to notice. I walked down, toward the dragon and knight, as Bowen sat on Draco's tongue, glaring at his surroundings. He then noticed an arm. He pulled it out and looked at it before saying,

"Oh good lord…Sir Eglemore." He disgustedly tossed it onto the ground. Draco, however, gave a small sigh of relief.

"Oh, thank you very much. It's been stuck down there for months." Draco said, his speech messed up because of the position the two were in. "Can you get your buttocks off my tongue?"

"Why should you be comfortable?" Bowen retorted, "My armor is rusting in your drool, and your breath is absolutely foul."

"Well what do you expect, with old Knights rotting between my molars?" After a pause, "Oh god, my mouth is so dry."

Draco suddenly began hacking, and Bowen, realized what was happening, asked Draco to stop, and held his hand out in protest, before a large spit-wad hit him smack in the face.

"Sorry about that." Draco said, "It seems we're in a bit of a stalemate, wouldn't you say?"

"Well I can go three days without sleep!" Bowen said, after wiping the spit off.

"I can go three weeks." Draco said as-matter-of-factly.

"I think he's got you there!" I yelled up. I didn't know why I was so comfortable around them. Maybe because I had watched the movie so much?

Bowen glared downward, though he couldn't quite see me. "Well, I'll stab you before I nod off."

"And I'll chop you. Heh, Marvelous, We'll kill each other!"

"What do you suggest?" Bowen asked suspiciously. This is where I stepped back a bit because I knew what was coming.

"A truce. Get out of my mouth and let's talk face to face."

"How do I know I can trust you?" Bowen asked, looking down.

"I give you my word!" Draco insisted.

"The word of a dragon..it's worthless!"

Suddenly, Draco began to growl, "Stubborn Lout!" As he said this, he used his tongue and pushed Bowen out of his mouth. Bowen fell onto the ground, but before he could move, was pinned to the ground by Draco's paw.

Bowen growled in rage, "I should've known! Go on! Kill me!"

As Draco was fixing his unhinged jaw, I looked down to Bowen, and back to him. "Why didn't you do that about 10 hours ago?"

"I don't want to kill you, I never did!" Draco said, ignoring me, now that his jaw was back in place. "And I don't want you to kill me. How do we gain? If you win, you lose a trade"—as he did this, he laid down into a more comfortable position—"If I win, I wait around for the next sword slinger thirsting to carve a reputation out of my hide! I'm tired of lurking in holes and skulking in darkness. I'm going to let you up now, and if you insist, we can pursue this fracas to it's final stupidity…or, you can listen to my alternative" he said, lifting his paw.

Bowen slowly stood up, obviously stiff. Now that he was standing right next to me, he was slightly taller.

"Hm?" Draco asked. I looked at Bowen, and gave a nod.

"What's the alternative?"

I grinned as Draco went on to explain how the two of them would go to different villages and scare the village leaders for their gold.

"Where do I fit in?" I piped up. They both stared. "Or…I can just stand in the background and not be quiet." I said simply, taking a step back. The two continued their conversation.


	3. To add Insult to Injury

**[Author's Note: This Chapter annoys me. Once I finished the part with Kara and her father's death, I had to wing it, which wasn't fun. I couldn't channel Ben very well, or Einon for that matter. Especially not Einon. . I'll try and get the 4th Chapter up tonight as well.**

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**Chapter 3: To add insult to injury…**

Ben looked around. All he could gather is that Corey had ran down a path, around a corner, and disappeared. And when he followed, he was suddenly in this quarry. He walked around, looking for some authority figure. He had been wandering for an hour now, and figured the best plan was to find a police man, or some sort of person with authority. He looked around, and almost ran into a woman, a bit taller than himself, with fire-orange hair and dark colored clothing. He apologized and took the blame, and kept walking. Then, he turned around and looked at where she was going.

"Kara?" the old man asked. When he realized it was his daughter, he continued. "Kara. I told you—I told you not to come here anymore."

"I'm a disobedient child." Kara responded. She handed her father a cup. "Go on. Take a drink. Go on."

Suddenly, before the cup could reach her father's lips, an arrow zoomed through and took the cup from their hands.

"Magnificent shot, your highness!" the man on the horse cried. There were three of them that Ben could see, the middle on a radiant white stallion.

"Care to double the wager?" The middle rider asked.

"Ah, yes. Happily" the one on the right said, "Shall we say…the water bucket?"

"Stand still. Stand still." Kara reassured her father.

_Zing!_ The arrow went by and hit the water bucket and knocked it down.

"Superb!"

"Double again?" the middle asked once again.

"Double Again? Why not." The arrow went by Kara, who walked forward, straight to the King. "I say…A moving target!"

"Peasant Scum." The left rider said.

"You've got a nerve interfering with the king's sport!" The middle rider said. This made Ben perk up. Maybe the king could tell him what was going on! Ben, now, watched more intently than ever.

"There's no sport in tormenting a sick old man." Kara replied flatly. "I beg your majesty, release him. It's been twelve years. Your castle is built…he can do no more harm."

When the King didn't reply, she continued. "For god's sake, release him!"

The King thought for a moment, lifted his bow, and shot Kara's father right in the heart. He gasped, and fell backwards, over a small brick wall.

"Father!" Kara called, running after him.

"I've always said Death was a Release, not a punishment!" The King said, motioning for the others to follow, and riding off.

"Kara…" Her father's last words were uttered.

Ben, who had watched the thing, horrorstruck, was brought back to reality. He was tempted to go ask that Kara girl, but he didn't want to disturb her. Instead, he went in the direction of the King, but was then stopped by a firm hand in front of him.

"Where're you going?" a large, buff guard asked, glaring down on him.

"I…need to speak to the king."

"What for?"

"I need some information." Ben replied, trying to be as vague as possible.

The guard observed him. "What are you wearing?"

Ben looked down at his pajamas. "Clothes?"

"Cute. Where are you from?"

"Well, I'm not sure I can tell you that, but…"

"You're under arrest." The Guard said simply.

"What?! What for?!" Ben cried,

"For refusing to cooperate with a guard to the King."

The Large Guard grabbed Ben by his arms, and dragged him along, in the same way towards a castle in the distance.

"Where are you…taking me?" Ben panted, after about an hour of walking—him having to jog to keep up with the rope bound on his wrists. (which were placed shortly after departure)

"To the king." The Guard said, as they rounded a corner and came up to a large gateway. The two went up and over the drawbridge, and into the castle, where The King was already waiting in the main hall, with a few servants.

"King Einon," the guard said, kneeling. "I've arrested this boy for suspicion of treason."

Einon looked down at the boy. He wore strange checkered pants, and a strange, loose-fitting shirt. "And?"

"And what? I had assumed you wanted to interrogate him personally."

"No! I want all traitors _dead_, do you hear me?!" Einon said, raising his voice. The Guard cowered. He observed Ben one more time. "On second thought, release him, and let him come to dinner tonight."

The Guard looked confused.

"Now!" Einon snapped. The Guard quickly untied Ben's wrists, and shown him to a cell, with a bed.


	4. A New Point of View

**[Author's Note: This is mainly to fill in the gap so we're all caught up. Yayz.**

**Chapter 4: A New Point of View.**

Ben was soon escorted to a cell, which by Einon's standards, was the nicest cell there was. It had a bed, a lavatory (somewhat), and a dresser. Not to mention a hay rug. It was very spiffy indeed. After about an hour sitting in his cell, mulling over what just happened, and just nearly avoiding a panic attack, Einon came into the cell, and invited Ben to take a walk. Einon went on to explain who he was—he could obviously tell Ben was confused—and how Einon nearly escaped death from a stab to the heart. Ben asked how he had survived, and Einon replied "A Good medic." The two walked for a couple hours, talking, but something had been praying on Ben's mind.

"Why did you kill that girl's father?" he finally asked.

Einon thought for a moment. "I corrected a mistake I made twelve years ago. The man killed my father when he started a rebellion against him. When I became King, I simply blinded him, and that wasn't enough."

Ben thought for a moment. Einon made sense. Betrayal is a very bad crime, punishable by death. But then, Kara acted as if nothing was wrong…or did she? He didn't know her very well at all, and she could've just been trying to save him. "And even though that girl asked you to release him, why didn't you?"

"I want no martyrs." Einon said simply, "Death should be a release, not a punishment."

Ben nodded. He was sure he agreed with all of Einon's ideals, but it was better than nothing. Ben decided to stay, because frankly, he had nowhere else to go.

"When's dinner?" he asked. Einon chuckled.

"In a couple hours. I'll see you there?" Einon then left Ben to his solitude.

- - -

After the little tiff last night, the three of us introduced each other (mostly Bowen and I) and went to a village, Myself running after Bowen into the village. Draco had flown up to a cliff and looked upon his "prey." Lord Felton came running out of the house, wearing nothing but his pants, came out to see Bowen, myself, and Draco.

"Pesky critters, Dragons." Bowen said, smiling.

"You!" Felton said, pointing, letting his pants drop, which he had to pull back up.

"Like big rats." Bowen continued, "You never seem to get rid of them. Unless you pay us two bags of gold, in advance."

"Um, three please!" I said, looking over to Felton, "I'd like a horse."

When Felton agreed, Bowen and I went to the dock, and set up a large cross-bow like thing. As Draco came flying down, Bowen—with a nice cry of "Yes!"—cut the rope that was holding the arrow in place, which shot up, and caught by Draco—who froze in mid flight, and gasped, before falling down, into the river. Behind us, the villagers were cheering.

Now that we had gold, I told Bowen I'd catch up, and I went into town to buy a horse, so I wouldn't have to walk the entire time. After a couple minutes, I had an all brown horse, and had caught up with the two. Draco was flying around doing fanciful tricks, and Bowen was counting his gold.

"Twenty-Eight…Twenty-Nine…Hah! Most profitable, Dragon, I should've met you a long time ago!" Bowen said. I had near forgot that Draco was still 'the dragon,' I had to be careful not to call him by 'Draco'.

"There is much gold in the world." Draco said, flying in a circle around the two of us. "Perhaps when you've had your fill of it, you'll no longer need me!"

"I am a Knight of the Old Code. My word is my bond!" Bowen replied.

"No compunctions then!"

"About what?"

"Well, such deception hardly befits a Knight of the Old Code."

Bowen laughed. "Fleecing Einon's lackeys, that's a service to mankind."

"Is it? When you squeeze the nobility, it's the peasants who feel the pinch." Draco replied, landing and hopping along side of us.

"He has a point, Bowen." I said, riding next to him. He looked at me. "It's like a ripple effect. If the nobles are affected, then they oppress the peasants."

"Why do you always side with him?" Bowen asked me suspiciously. "And besides, the peasants aren't my concern. Why should I stick my neck out for people afraid to risk their own? Don't clutter a clever scheme with morality."

"Mmm. So be it, Knight of the Old Code." Said Draco, taking flight once more.

Bowen glared at Draco, and then me. "If I wanted my conscience pricked, I would've stuck with the priest. And what does a dragon—and a _boy—_know of the Old Code anyway?"

"A knight is sworn to valour." I said, "His heart knows only virtue."

"His blade defends the helpless. His might upholds the weak. His word speaks only truth." Draco said, landing between us.

"Shut up!" Bowen snapped at the both of us. "I remember. That's all it is, a memory. Nothing can bring it back."

"You sound like one who tried." Draco said, looking at him. I rode up and past Draco's large neck, and looked at Bowen too.

"And failed." Bowen said, avoiding eye contact. "So, I no longer try to change the world, dragon, I just try to get by in it."

"Yes, well…it's better than death, I suppose." Draco said, looking down.

"Oh, is it?" Bowen retorted. "I should think you'd welcome death. You know, the last of your kind, all of your friends dead…hunted wherever you go."

Draco stopped in his tracks, but Bowen and I kept riding. "Do you delight in reminding me? Yes, Knight. I do long for death, but…fear it."

Bowen stopped too. "Why? Aside from your misery, what's to lose?"

"My soul." Draco said. I kept riding, but Bowen and Draco caught up, both uncomfortable. I was now in the middle, and we rode to the next village in silence.


	5. Bloody Knuckles, Knives, and Imprisonmet

**[Author's Note: Sorry, guys. Short chappie. hehe.**

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**Chapter 5: Bloody Knuckles, Knives, and Imprisonment.**

That night, for dinner in the castle, was under-cooked chicken, rolls, and wine. Ben was very reluctant to the chicken, when he found a bit of blood in it when it was cut open, but eventually ate it, and found it wasn't that bad, just a little cold. The rolls were fine, and the wine…well, he avoided the wine. 

The men were playing some medieval form of Bloody Knuckles, and there were two contestants left. A man named Brok, and someone else. 

"Finish him, Brok!" Einon cried. Ben sat between him, and a very annoying man named Felton, who both kept throwing out taunts. Eventually, Brok won, throwing the other man onto the table. Einon, in triumph, bashed his knife on the table like a child. After everyone continued clapping, Einon spoke. 

"Should he continue, Mother?" 

"Oh, the field belongs to the…" a white-dressed woman said, "Apparently inexhaustible Sir Brok, my son." 

Brok let out a tired chuckle, Einon accepted his mother's request, and grabbed a small vase to drink from, pouring it into his glass. Everyone else went back to eating. Suddenly, out of nowhere, a girl came flying down with a dagger in hand, screaming. Einon obviously anticipated it, and turned, grabbing her wrists, and throwing her onto the table. Ben instantly shot up and backed up against the wall. 

"The Quarry!" Einon cried. Then Ben recognized the girl as Kara. "First you beg mercy for your father's fate, then you try to avenge it…"—he grunted against her struggle—"Now, you'll share it." 

"In your kingdom, Einon, there are worse fates then death." Kara spat. Einon gave her a thoughtful look. 

"I'll think one up for you. Take her away!" 

"No! No!" Kara screamed, "He killed my father! HE KILLED MY FATHER!" 

The rest of the men left, dragging Kara along. Brok followed, so that the only people in the room was Einon, Ben, and Einon's mother. Einon looked at his mother, and to Ben, before sighing, and angrily stabbing the knife into a loaf of bread, before stomping off. 

The next day was extremely dull around the Castle. Einon was locked up in his room for half of the time, except for meals, with which he still took into his room. Near sunset, Einon came out, and went to the Castle's tower, with the dagger he stole from Kara. 

Ben had been simply sticking to his 'cell,' and eventually wandering around the castle when he had nothing better to do. Eventually, he went to Kara's cell. Einon was too quick to want to kill Kara, Einon seemed like a good person before Kara came, and now he seems different. Ben needed answers. On his way (he had gotten lost three times) he thought of how easily he had begun to trust Einon. He normally wasn't that trusting! Finally, he reached the cell. He stood in the doorway, and ducked in before the guards came. 

Kara didn't move. She simply glared at Ben. "Do you mind if I ask you some questions?" Ben asked. She didn't say anything. 

"Why did Einon kill your father?" Ben asked, trying to be as nice as he could. 

"For fighting for something he believed in." Kara said, looking up. "My father was a peasant when he ambushed The King, who was a horrible tyrant. My father was the leader of the rebellion the peasants started. He ambushed and killed Einon's father, and when Einon became King, my father was blinded as a punishment." 

Ben thought about this, when he heard the door begin to unlatch, he panicked, and ran behind a small wall that was sticking out. When he heard who had entered, he heard Kara stand. 

She ran forward at Einon, who stood before her. He obviously had not seen Ben. The chains on her wrist kept her from harming him. She stood back, against the wall, when she figured she could do nothing to him, and he spoke. 

"I remember you now." Einon said, "I remember you. Your hair…like fire. You gave me this scar?"—he asked, showing a scar on his chest—"didn't you?"—he advanced—"I. Owe. You." 

Einon, later, had the guards drag Kara away. Ben was able to sneak out of the cell. He was disappointed. He wanted to ask Kara more questions. He went back to his room, and went to bed as night fell over the Castle. 

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	6. A Special Heart

**Author's Note: Huzzah! An actual Chapter! Hehe. Sorry it took so long for an update. And why don't you people ACTUALLY review? Huh? Is it so hard? REVIEW, DAMMIT! :D**

**Thank you and have a nice day.**

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**Chapter 6: A Special Heart**

The ride to the next village took a heck of a lot longer than I thought it would, and by the time the sun was setting, and we decided to make camp, I was in pain from riding so much. I hadn't ridden a horse in a couple years and was a bit rusty. After an hour of searching, the sun was red and yellow from the sunset. I was surprised how bright and clear it was, compared to back home. I blamed the smog and carbon dioxide that was in the air. Now that this was 994 AD, there was almost no pollution, and so the sun was much brighter.

So, we decided to rest on a small north-facing cliff overlooking a beautiful scene of forested mountains and the red sunset overlaying them. Furthermore, what made this scene even better, was that I had grown more comfortable with Bowen and Draco, so that I could converse more easily than before. While we set up camp, Bowen went to hunt for dinner (he was obviously anxious to get away from Draco and I to have some alone time) I went to grab some firewood, and set up the fire pit. Draco got to watch. Being a large dragon, it was hard for him to help out in setting up the camp. I went out collecting firewood, and was eventually after a few hours—to make up a pit. Bowen came back as I finished, and set up the roaster, and put a rabbit on it for him and I to split. Draco had already gotten his own dinner.

While I went over, opposite the sun set, and set up my bed. Then I realized. I had to put my glasses down before I slept. I instinctively reached my hands up to my face, and realized that my glasses were gone. It had suddenly hit me that neither Bowen nor Draco mentioned anything about my glasses. People in these days didn't have them, yet I could see clearly. It was amazing! Maybe it was adaptation for the time that I was in? Of course I didn't believe in adaptation such as African people turning Caucasian when put in Europe, but still. Maybe it's different for time periods. Anyway, as I was pondering, I was awoken from my trance, by Draco speaking.

"I can, uh…" Draco said, looking to Bowen. "I really can."

I turned around, knowing what was going to happen next. Bowen was angrily trying to get a fire started. Draco had an amused look on his face, he plugged one nostril with a finger of the hand he had his head resting on, and blew a streak of fire toward the fire pit, causing Bowen to step back from the heat. When Draco saw he over-did it, he stopped, wiped his nostril, and spoke again.

"Sorry, Bowen…I hope you like it well done."

I had to laugh a bit. Bowen scowled as he ripped the rabbit apart, and handed some to me. He got most of it, but I didn't complain. It was tough to eat and very filling. I would've liked some Barbeque Sauce and Milk, but other than that it wasn't bad. Bowen set a bowl between us to toss our bones in. It was dark by the time we finished. Bowen tossed his shield next to his bed, and pulled the covers over himself as he lay down. I did the same. Draco looked at Bowen's tooth-laid shield.

"You must have hated us very much." Draco said, looking over to Bowen. I looked over to Bowen as well.

Bowen looked at Draco, before speaking. "I hated one of you. These I killed because I wanted to kill him, but I never found him. And I never will, if you're the last, he must be dead."

"Ah yes…" Draco said. He glanced to me, and back to Bowen. "Tell me…what was he like this, uh, dragon that you hated?"

Normally, I would've smiled, because I knew Draco was referencing to himself. But because of the apparent 'intensity' of the moment, I stayed in my same position.

"He only had half a heart." Bowen said quickly, and apparently uncomfortably. The words made it seem that they were sour in his mouth. "But even that was enough to pollute an innocent boy."

"Einon was no innocent!" Draco said, near yelling, and straitening, pounding his hand on the ground. "He polluted the heart!"

Bowen instantly flipped his blankets off and stood up. "How do you know that?! How do you know that, Dragon?"

"Er…" Draco started, scratching the back of his neck nervously. "All dragons know that story!"—he said, coming up with something random on the spot—"What was to be their hope became their doom! A spoiled ungrateful child was given a great gift, and destroyed it!"

"No." reposted Bowen, confidently. "I knew Einon. I was his teacher. I taught him the ways of honor…of right."

"And then he betrayed you…" said Draco, leaning down. "Just as he betrayed the dragon whose heart he broke."

"That's a lie, Dragon!" Bowen said. I stood up as well, and was on the opposite side of the fire's remains.

"Stop calling me Dragon!" Draco shouted, growling slightly. "I have a name."

Bowen paused. "Well, what is it?"

"Heh. You couldn't possibly pronounce it in your tongue."

"Try me." Bowen replied.

"It's…Ungh!" Draco growled, and fell back, grabbing at his Shoulder. Bowen and I instantly ran to his aid, both trying to pull him up (though Draco did most of the work.) He propped himself up, and Bowen cut out part of his blanket, and soaked it with cool water, and put it on Draco's shoulder.

"You alright?" I asked.

"Yes, thank you. It's passed now." Draco responded.

"What was it?" Bowen asked.

"Oh, just an old complaint that acts up now and again," Draco said.

"Forgive me of…"Bowen continued, obviously uncomfortable. "Anything I said if I upset you."

"It wasn't you…" Draco replied, "Not you…" After a second, he lay down, grunting slightly, and closed his eyes to sleep. I did the same, and went to bed.

While I was in bed, I thought of what was happening back home. In some things I've read that people went to other worlds, and when they got back no time had passed at all. Then, there were times that when people go back in time that time in the present went on like normal. Were my friends and family looking for me? Were the police stumped that I had tripped, fallen, and vanished? Were they even looking? I was also worried about what would happen to Ben. Would he be put in a mental institute for saying I vanished into thin air? I began to feel bad that I ever followed Brother Gilbert when he appeared in my back yard. I hated not knowing. Eventually, I thought myself to sleep.

Soon enough, I was woken up by Draco's voice.

"Have you been watching over me all night?" Draco asked, looking over to Bowen.

"I've…been thinking." Bowen responded.

"Yes? About what?"

"Many things…mostly about what to call you. I think I've found you a name."

"Heh. You say that as if you've reached up and plucked it from the sky."

Bowen laughed. "I did. Up there." He motioned to where he meant. "Do you see that group of stars?"

"I know those stars…very well."

"Do you see the shape that they make?"

"Mhm. A Dragon."

"Yes. They call it Draco. It means 'dragon,' in the scholar speech." Bowen said. I smiled, though I was half asleep. No more avoiding calling Draco by a name he hasn't been given yet.

Draco chuckled. "So instead of calling me Dragon in your tongue, you'll call me dragon in some other tongue?"

"You're right…it's silly." Bowen turned to go back to his bed, but was stopped by Draco's tail.

"No," Draco said, " I would be honoured to be named after those stars, I….I truly would. Thank you Bowen. Draco…" he said, testing the name out. "Draco."


	7. Escapements and Sacrifices

**Author's Note: Yay. A Chapter. Review, Dammit. :D Speakin of which, I got an email saying this was reported...how? Why?! There's nothing horrible about this story except that people can't wrap their heads around the fact that Dragonheart is the best movie ever. / Silly people!**

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**Chapter 7: Escapements and Sacrifices.**

Ben sat in his cell, which he had gotten used to. Earlier, he heard some clanking and some voices from the floor above. He had a hunch it was Einon and Kara, and he was worried. He wasn't able to sleep, but while he was trying to, he noticed he could see, but his glasses weren't on..in fact, he hadn't seen his glasses since the quarry. As he pondered everything that had happened, he had surprisingly begun to miss his family. His mom, sister, brother, and father. That was new. As he was laying down, he heard his door open, and then close. He sat up, and looked around. It was the white robbed woman who was Einon's mother.

"Can I help you?" Ben asked.

"Yes. The girl upstairs, Kara..I'm going to free her, and I wish you to accompany me." She said.

"Why?" Ben replied.

"We need to talk." She said, holding out a hand. "My name is Aislinn."

Ben took her hand reluctantly. She led him to a small underground waterway, where she spoke to him. She told him that Einon was stabbed in the heart, and was saved by a dragon, by being given a half heart. Ben didn't really believe it, because why would a Dragon rip his heart out to save someone he didn't know? It just didn't make sense, and Ben never really liked things he didn't understand all too well. Eventually, Aislinn got them through a secret passage that went up to Einon's room, where Kara was waiting.

"Don't be afraid.." Aislinn said. Ben stood back. "I won't let you suffer the same fate as me…I've come to help you."

Aislinn held out her hand, like she did with Ben, and Kara followed. The three went down and showed Kara a passage, though Ben refused to follow. He wanted to get more information, and he was stubborn about it. Without a word, Kara ran out, and Aislinn and Ben left.

- - -

In the morning, the three of us packed up and left to the next village. We arrived around noon. We were near the village—Bowen and I, (Draco was gonna fly in) and there was a young girl, in her mid-twenties, who had fire-red hair and was trying to rally the villagers.

"Throw off the yoke of Einon's oppression!" she cried, getting pelted with vegetables and mud. "We must start to fight back!"

"Your father sang that sour tune once and we did fight back, and once was enough!" Hewe said, coming out, "We'll not dance to it again!"

"No, Hewe, you'll just cringe like a dog under Einon's boot."

"Well, at least a Cringing Dog's a live one!" Hewe replied, grabbing a fruit to throw.

"Hey!" Bowen cried, grabbing the fruit as he came in, breaking the fruit in half on the side of his saddle. "Why waste good food on bad rhetoric?"

"I speak the truth." Kara said. I was behind Bowen, looking over at her.

"Truth? Ha!" Bowen replied, "It's rarely inspiring, lass and it never wins rebellions…but it will stretch necks, if there is a neck underneath that little…mudpie."

I chuckled when Kara shoved the fruit back in Bowens face. Bowen was saying that rather flirtatiously..he probably deserved it.

"Ready or not…Here I come!" I looked up, and Draco was flying for the village. "It's…Draco!"

"About time." I said, as Draco flew over and took out a roof with his tail, and then flew up to a cliff and smackedhis lips threateningly. Bowen and I got off and tied our horses.

"It seems you people are in need of a dragon slayer!" Bowen announced, reciting what we had rehearsed.

"Where is the lord responsible for this village?" I asked.

"Brok lives in a big house about six miles away." Hewe said, popping his head out of his house. "But he'll only blame any damage on us and pluck our pockets to pay for it."

"We won't pluck them as deeply." Bowen said, smiling. "We'll make you a fair offer. Take It..or leave him!"

It was good to hear Bowen say 'we' instead of 'I.' It meant that he actually accepted me as part of the group..or he's just making up for appearances. Either way, it made me feel special. Oh, and then Draco roared.

"Ooh…It's enough you people grovel to Einon," Kara said, stepping out and motioning to Bowen and I. "Must you be bullied by some broken down, blackmailing Knight and his street rat as well?"

"Hey!" I shouted. "I am no Street Rat!"

Bowen gave out a laugh. "That's right. You don't need us…settle it yourselves! Of course…there are other ways. Perhaps you'll part with one of your precious daughters, instead of gold."

"NO!" Hewe yelled, running out and embracing his three daughters.

"Dragon's are partial to maiden sacrifices…I hear." Bowen replied. I slapped my hand on my forehead as the villagers all rushed at Kara and tied her to a cart.

"No..Don't Do this to me!" She protested. "I – I was born in this village…you knew my father! You knew my mother!"

Meanwhile, Bowen and I rode up to Draco's cliff in all the excitement. "Who's the girl?" Draco asked as we approached.

"A nuisance! Get rid of her!" Bowen replied.

"Why?"

"They're trying to please you with a sacrifice!" I called up.

"Now whoever gave them that bright idea?" Draco asked, looking down scornfully at Bowen, which was ignored.

"Nevermind! Just get rid of her!" Bowen continued.

"How?"

"Eat her!"

"Oh please, yugh!"

"Aren't we squeamish, you ate Sir Eglemore, hyporcrate!"

"I merely chewed in self-defense! But I never swallowed."

"Improvise!"

"Alright, Alright!" Draco shouted, leaping into the air, and flying toward Kara. As me and Bowen rode back, Draco grabbed Kara, pulled her off the cart and flew off.

"I know where they're going..I'm gonna follow him" I said, beginning to ride forward.

"Wait..you do?! How!" Bowen cried after me.

I ignored him and chuckled, riding onward.


	8. The King's Lesson

**Author's Note: Hai! I'm alive! D Yeah...sorry for the long update. I went through a period in which Dragonheart wasn't my favorite thing in the world (I know, you're shocked, right?) So..yeah. I'll try and update more often.  
Heh...this is a long chapter. " 4 pages in Word, the rest are usually 2 to 3 pages long. Whoo! This is another one of those climatic moments that I was looking forward to since I decided to add Ben in there...but it took alot of thinking. I DID want to do a sword-fight, but I decided to settle it to an argument...so, here we go! Yayz.**

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**Chapter 8: The King's Lesson**

After ditching Bowen at the village, I followed Draco's silhouette in the sky to the river. The ride took about an hour and I realized this was not the same path we took to get to the village. Hm. Must be a shortcut or something. After a while I got lost and ended up following the river to where the waterfall was, which amazingly is where I found Draco and Kara. As I passed I remembered that the last time I was here was when I fell down the path in my creek and nearly hit my head on a rock. As I was about to pass the steep path from which I fell, I quickly got off, making sure that while Draco was trying to calm the frantic Kara, he wouldn't see me. I went up the trail and looked around. No house. No yard. Nothing! I guess I couldn't go back. I tried to ignore the thoughts of what would happen if I never went back. I decided to go and reveal myself to Draco and Kara.

"There you are!" I heard from behind me as I was getting on my horse. Bowen was riding up behind me.

"Oh." I uttered. "Long time no see!"

Bowen glared at me, and then looked up to see Draco—who was singing. His horse walked forward. I followed. Draco was still singing.

"You have a beautiful voice." Kara said after Draco had finished singing. She was sitting on a rock and Draco was next to her.

"Well thank you." He replied, "We dragons love to sing when we're happy."

"But you're not like a dragon at all!" Kara protested.

"Well, how many dragons do you know?"

"Well…you're the first!" Kara responded.

"You should never listen to minstrel's fancies." Draco said, "A dragon would never hurt a soul, unless they tried to hurt him first."

"Really?" said Kara skeptically. "When why were you in my village?"

"Oh! The Village!" Draco said, as if he suddenly remembered (which he probably did,) pounding his fist on the rock.

Bowen thought it would be a good time to interfere. "Yes, the village!" he shouted, "You remember the village?"

Kara jumped into action! She took a knife from her dress and slid off the rock. "Leave him alone you bully! Run, Draco, Fly, I'll hold 'em!" She turned to us. "Pick on someone your own size."

Bowen ignored her and looked to Draco. "Where have you been?"

"I'm truly sorry, Bowen. Heh..I've been distracted." Draco replied. Kara, still facing Bowen, who was now off his horse, was pointing her knife at him. "Bowen," Draco continued. "Meet Kara."

Bowen looked at her, and back to him. "You should've eaten her."

"Oh, don't get angry, Bowen." Draco pleaded. I looked up to his face, which looked apologetic, though Bowen was still angry.

"Why not?" Bowen asked, glaring. "I was worried to death!"

"Worried? About me?" Draco asked, looking touched. Bowen looked up as If he had just revealed some deep dark secret.

"Yes, about you!" he retorted. "I had the whacker all set up, half the village is out there with me. We're searching the skies for you, I don't know where you are. If you're coming back, when you're coming back, you just…disappear." He said as Draco hopped up and ran into the cave behind the waterfall.

"Be careful!" Draco said as his tail went under the falls. "He's coming!"

He's coming? Who's coming? Wait…what am I saying? I should know that…I mean, I've seen the movie a million times. If it could be considered a movie anymore, since I was kind of living it. Anyway. I grabbed my walking stick (which I grabbed on the way to find Draco) and leaned on it. So, Bowen, Kara and I looked over to the other side of the river. Riding on four different horses was Einon, Brok, a guard, and…_Ben?! _Wait…seriously, what the hell? Why is Ben here? I was glad to see him an' all…but why is he with the villain of this whole thing? Uh-oh.

Ben obviously saw me, because he perked up and was about to hop off his horse, but Einon held his hand out to stop him.

- - -

Ben was about to hop off his horse, but he saw the hand of Einon holding him back. He was annoyed, since Corey was over on the other side of the river, but he wasn't about to go against a king.

"Well well well, it can't be!" Einon cried, looking to the group on the opposite side of the river. "But it is! My old mentor…still giving carving lessons?"

Bowen was standing with his hands resting on the hilt of his sword, which was currently in it's sheath. Corey was leaning on a tall walking stick, and Kara was standing far back, holding a stone knife in her hand.

"Get off your horse, I'll give you one." Bowen replied, staying calm.

"Time's not been kind to ya, Bowen…you should never have broke with me."

"It was you who broke with me."

"And yet you return to me, with this girl I lost." Einon said, referring to Kara. Ben looked over and gave a small nod to Kara, but she didn't notice. Bowen looked over to Kara, who shook her head and lifted her knife.

- - -

I didn't keep my eyes off Ben. He was the only link to home, and I wasn't ready to be separated from him after finding he was here…in this movie…thing.

"I think she wants to stay lost." Bowen said, still calm as ever. Damn. How did he do that? My stomach was in knots. Things were happening fast. First, I couldn't remember what was going to happen, and now, Ben is suddenly here. Wow.

"Not her decision I'm afraid!" Einon cried. He got off his horse, and unsheathed his sword, pointing it forward. "I'm ready for my lesson now, Knight."

Bowen stared at Einon, and the two went forward into the river. Ben hopped off his horse and we went walking toward each other, also meeting in the river.

"Ben!" I cried, "What are you doing here?!"

"I could ask you the same question!" he announced, "What happened? First I was on my way after you, the next I was in some sort of building site!"

"I don't know. I just saw Brother Gilbert go down to the creek, and I followed and ended up here!"

We both ignored the clashing and clanging of Bowen and Einon's swords as our conversation took a turn for the worse.

"What have you been doing all this time?" I asked.

"I've been with Einon, what about you? You've been with…them?"

"Yes. Them." I replied. "What does that mean?"

"Well, Einon spoke about him…none of it good."

"…and you'd really believe him?" I asked skeptically, staring at him.

"That's one lesson you never learned! Only expose your back to a corpse!" I heard Bowen say in the background.

"Well, according to Einon, that guy is somewhat of a criminal!"

"What for?"

"Defiance to the kingdom."

"Damn right he's defying the kingdom. Einon's a tyrant, and you should know that!"

"Why? I don't even know what this movie, or whatever it is, is about! For all I know, they could be the evil ones!"

"You can't be serious!" I cried, glaring at him.

"Prove me wrong." Ben said, pulling his 'I'm way more confident than you, which makes me better' tactic. Man that annoyed me.

"So he shouldn't fight what he believes in?" I said quickly, looking to Ben. Frankly, I couldn't I don't even remember what's supposed to happen next.

"As long it's legal!"

"Lay down, Bowen!" I heard over my own fuming. We both looked over to see Einon's sword pointing at Bowen, who was on his back. "You're a sorry scrap of dead worlds, and dead beliefs!"

"NO!!" Bowen cried, standing up, bashing Einon's sword away. "THEY WERE YOUR BELIEFS!"

"Never…" Einon said, nearly laughing. "Never mine!"

Bowen yelled and attacked Einon, turning around, so their positions were opposite. "You spoke the words! You spoke them from your heart!" Bowen cried.

"I vomited them up because I couldn't stomach them!" Einon cried. "Because I knew it was what you wanted to hear!"

"No—" Bowen said, deflecting Einon's attack, "LIAR!" he yelled, "I TAUGHT YOU!"

"You taught me to fight, that's all!" Einon yelled. "I took what I needed from you…You taught me to fight!"

Einon attacked again, this time feinting and spinning, until his sword pierced flesh. Thankfully it was only Bowen's shoulder. He cried out in pain, and fell to the ground. What can I say? I was into it. I hadn't quite forgotten about Ben, but still.

"Heh…" Einon chuckled, "You taught me well…"

He turned and walked up the bank, and pulled out something from his belt.

"Bowen!" I cried, taking a step forward, when suddenly Draco jumped out of the waterfall and let out a large 'ROAR!' and reaching up to nearly half the height of the waterfall, and opening a section of scale, which apparently put Einon into a panic. He ran back to his horse and rode away. It apparently scared Ben too, because he was riding away as well when I looked over. I walked over and stood next to them.

"Who asked you to interfere?" Bowen said, looking up at Draco, his voice cracking. "I had everything under control!" He shook some blood off his hand, and looked away from Draco. I put my hand on his shoulder—his good one—as if to comfort him, and gave a nod to Draco as if to say 'You did the right thing.'


	9. Meat? Meat! MEAT!

**Author's Note: Yay! A steady update! I'm back into it. Nearly to the end! :D Then...THE SEQUAL. Maybe. We'll see. Anyway, I'm gonna try and get this done soon. Yay!**

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**Chapter 9: Meat? Meat!? MEAT!**

After the interesting little tiff at the river, the four of us, Draco, Bowen, Kara and I, all made camp, and kept pretty much to ourselves. Mostly me and Bowen were the most separated from Kara and Draco, who had a small bit of conversation during supper. In the end, we all went to bed, me and Bowen on opposite sides of the camp, Kara between us, and Draco out a ways so he had a good bit of room to move as he slept. I was up until the moon was high in the sky. I'm assuming it was around 11 or 12 when I finally actually dozed off, and I fell asleep to the soft snore of Draco. Bowen was awake a lot longer then I was, but he tried to fake it so he wouldn't show is emotion from the sword fight with Einon.

After thinking about that, my mind started wandering. None of it was good. First was the thought of why Ben would side with the enemy. He had complained many times about Einon's stupidity back home when we were wandering in the neighborhood, at least he complained about what I told him. I don't think he would forget that…would he? I was forgetting what was to come in this whole odyssey, so why shouldn't Ben be forgetting about home? Next came the thoughts of what would happen if we were both stuck here. Would we become bitter enemies, like Bowen and Einon? I should hope not. Well, I finally did get to sleep, though it seemed as if only a millisecond later, Bowen was shaking me awake for us to get going. He had already woken up Kara and Draco.

Bowen and I untied out horses. Kara rode with Bowen, while I stayed behind. I was feeling better after sleeping, as quick as it was. Remarkable how you can subconsciously solve your problems, isn't it? As we came farther down the river, we came to a dock, where we stopped for breakfast. Draco was off getting his own food, and Bowen Kara and I had already eaten when we ventured out onto the dock. Bowen and Kara were walking side-by-side, and I was walking a bit behind them, stroking my horse. (Which I named Kid, in honor of the other horse I had when I was young, before we had to give him away)

"Here, let me see." Kara said, looking to Bowen, who seemed pained from his wound. She examined it. "It's knitted well."

"You have a healers touch, Kara." Bowen stared passionately at her, and I expected him to lean in for a kiss, but he quickly turned and kept walking. "In a few days it'll be just another scar."

"And what's one more scar? To a Knight, I mean?" Kara said, walking to catch up with him. I walked a bit farther back, to give them some privacy, but not far enough that I couldn't eavesdrop. "I once knew a Knight. He stood all alone against an evil king and even saved a rebel leader from blinding…he must have had many scars."

"That Knight died of his wounds long ago." Bowen said agitatedly, turning toward Kara.

"That's too bad. His kind is badly missed in this world." Kara stayed looking ahead.

"That's the way the retched world is, girl." Bowen said.

Kara turned to him. "It doesn't have to be." She said. I looked over to her, and leaned on my horse, who supported me. I rested my head on his back, watching.

"Men like you, could lead others." Kara continued, "You could give people courage and hope!"

"Hope?" Bowen asked, skeptically. "Even if you could raise your army, do you think they'd stand a chance against seasoned troops? Last time they tried, it was a massacre. I remember. I was there."

"So was I." Kara retorted defiantly. "That rebel was my father…Let others stand by you. You'll see this time, the end will be different."

She looked up at him. Bowen stared at her again…passionately. "What are you looking at?" she aksed.

Bowen cracked a smile. "Myself…once upon a time. I'll see you in the village, Draco." He said, as Draco came flying out of the woods. I looked up, and decided to jump on my horse.

"That's easy for you to say. This time I'll collect the money and _you_ can die!" Draco said, flying onward.

I laughed, at Draco as Bowen and I got onto our horses. Bowen asked Kara if she wanted on, but she refused, wanting to walk. That was fine by me, since I wanted to talk to Bowen privately. We rode on for a few hours, along a small dirt-path. As we rode, I hung back, thinking about what I was gonna say to Bowen. He was…Bowen. Wait, why am I thinking about this? I hate expressing my feelings. Well, whatever. After a minute, Bowen seemed extremely distant as we rode, so I caught up with him, and went in for the kill! . . .So to speak.

"Hey," I said, "You okay?"

He ignored me.

"Bowen?" I asked.

"What?" he snapped. Whoa. Touchy.

"I asked If you were okay. You seem distant."

"I'm fine."

"You sure? You don't look it."

"I said I'm fine!"

"Well, it's good you can keep a cool head after being attacked by your friend!" I retorted, starting to get annoyed.

"Why do you even care?" Bowen snapped. "Who are you, anyway, Corey? You haven't told us anything about you. You just appeared at the river where I was, and joined the group!"

"I…I'm not sure I can answer that." I replied. Was I willing to tell him I was from the future and I was just following a figure and fell and ended up here? Yeah. Completely believable.

"And why not?" Bowen asked.

"Because you wouldn't even believe me."

"Try me."

"No! Why do _you_ even care?" I asked, throwing his own attack back at him.

"Probably for the same reason you do."

I stared at him. He stared at me. I sighed. "Damn." I said, "What do you want me to say? That I'm from the future and magically ended up here, and that everything that was happening was all part of a motion picture, and I used to know everything that was going to happen?"

He looked at me like I was crazy. Even though it was true, it was still hard to say. He eventually got agitated and rode faster, ignoring me. After about thirty minutes of riding after our argument, we made it to the village.

"We can lose no more pigs to this dragon." The assumed 'leader' of the village said, handing us a pig head full of gold (eew?) when we had confronted him about his dragon problem.

"WAIT!" we all heard. Me and Bowen turned (our horses were tied up) to see Kara running down the bridge that we had come across. "These two are frauds!"

The leader quickly tensed and grabbed his crazy-large super-ax of death.

"It's her!" Bowen cried. "This girl is a…wandering idiot!"

"She babbles nonsense!" I said, tried to look annoyed as if she'd been following us all day. Which, technically, she had.

"I'm telling you...these two…Are no dragon slayers!" She said, slightly out of breath.

"You're mistaken, my child!" Another voice cried. We looked over to see, none other, than Brother Gilbert striding down another bridge with a staff in hand. "He's the greatest dragon slayer there is! Possibly the best there ever will be!"

"Brother Gilbert!" Bowen cried, his arms out in a welcoming gesture. I was simply stunned. I didn't expect him, of all people, to find us. I would've more expected Hillary Clinton to pop up! Okay, maybe not Hillary, but not Brother Gilbert either.

"Bowen! You're alive! Praised be the saints! The saints be blessed!" he praised as he walked through the crowd of pigs. "You're alive! And…whole!"

"Heh…Brother Gilbert." Bowen replied. Okay, maybe he could get us out of this. Yay, Brother Gilbert!

Brother Gilbert looked proudly to the villagers. "You could not put your trust in a better man! I have seen him slay almost two dragons!"

"Almost?" Kara asked, as if to say 'He's a liar!'

"Well…I didn't actually see the deathblow of the second, but, as Bowen is here, he must have won!"

"No…don't you see? They're in league with the dragon!"

Bowen and I both gave a look to the village as if to say, 'Told ya so.' Then, we all had a nice chorus of laughing, Bowen, I, and the villagers, and eventually Brother Gilbert who was doing his usual 'I'm confused, so I'll try and talk but fail' routine.

After a while, the four of us, Bowen, Kara, Brother Gilbert and I, were on a dock, setting up a large crossbow. "Hold that there." Bowen instructed. "And here he comes." He said, as Draco came flying forward. Bowen cut the rope, and Draco caught the over-sized arrow, and fell to the river…which was only about three feet deep. Draco fell over on his back, moaning.

"Sink! SINK!" Bowen whispered loudly.

"I Can't. It doesn't get any deeper!" Draco hissed.

"Well done, Bowen! You've done it again!" Brother Gilbert congratulated. Kara smiled as if she won some great competition. "The brute! That's even bigger then the last one!"

"Actually, he's about the same size." I said ironically. I turned around to see the villagers all looking at Draco. "Meat?" one of them said. Wait…meat?! "Meat…MEAT!" They all began to chant like some kind of…satanic worshippers. They ran after Draco, who flipped over with an 'Oh dear' and ended up flying away from the crowd of hungry villagers who were in the mood for dragon burgers.

"Uh-oh." Bowen said. Brother Gilbert looked around. "What's going on?" he asked.

"Meat…Meat…" They began chanting again..at us. Wow. Creepy.

"Run. That's what's going on." Kara said, running away.

"Run." Bowen said, running to his horse. Lucky for me, my Horse was no where to be found. He was probably devoured by these jerks.

"Run?" Brother Gilbert asked.

"Run!" I replied, running toward Bowen. "Bowen!" I cried. "Make room!" I hopped on the back of the horse, which started to gallop away, though we didn't get too far. As we were running, Bowen cried, "Kara!"

She reached out, and I helped her up behind me. Brother Gilbert was near the bridge, making peace. "Peace, brothers! Peace!" he cried. He turned around and began running to us, yelling "Heathens!"

"Brother Gilbert!" I cried, and helped him up to, and he was facing Kara who was back to back with me.  
"Oh, good Lord! Forgive me, much obliged." I heard Brother Gilbert say to Kara. Now, we were all surrounded by cannibal peasants, four people to a horse. Not the best position in the world.

"No dragon?" Bowen said, tossing the pig head on the ground. "No charge!"

They kept chanting at us. We were still meat and they walked over the pig head. Suddenly, Draco flew down to save the day! He picked up the horse, and I nearly fell off, but was able to steady myself. We were in the air within seconds. I was cold, clinging onto Bowen, Kara onto me, and Brother Gilbert onto her, and we were about 100 feet within the air, and rising. Now, the ground was extremely small.

"We're going to die!" Brother Gilbert cried, I could barely hear over the rush of wind. "God help us! We're all going to die!!"

"Calm yourself, Brother Gilbert, we're not going to die! We're just…" Bowen shouted, "Flying."

"If you're going to get yourselves killed, you might as well do it in the fight against Einon!" Kara shouted. Draco kept flying until we were nearly over open ocean, or open lake. Whatever.

"I think Kara has a point!" I cried, looking at Bowen, still clinging to both him and the horse, who was whinnying in fear and protest.

"Oh!" Brother Gilbert cried, "But I'd rather discuss it on the ground!!"


	10. A Knight is Sworn to Valor

**Chapter 10: A Knight is Sworn to Valor.**

We had been flying for a long while until it became dark. Finally, we got to an island…thing. I was still clinging to Bowen, Kara onto me, and Brother Gilbert onto her. If it wasn't for the fact that we were so high in the air, I could've made a really bad joke about our current situation. But I won't.

"Draco…what unholy place is this?" Bowen called up.

"Unholy?" Draco responded, "This is Avalon! The resting place of King Arthur himself!"

Bowen didn't say anything else. When we finally landed, I went over to sit down, my arms were stiff and everything. Bowen went over to lean on a pillar, Kara was standing near me, and Brother Gilbert was praying.

"So it was foretold, and so I have found you, brave King Arthur." Brother Gilbert prayed. "And let the song of…" He trailed off into a mumble as Draco spoke to himself. "Valor…Virtue…Truth. Ah yes…Truth."

"…Amen." Brother Gilbert finished. He stood up and put on his hat, and looked over toward us. "Ready now, Kara." Brother Gilbert looked over to Bowen. "And you Bowen…Bowen, this is Avalon, The shadow realm of the round table. It's a divine omen."

"Omens won't win battles." Bowen said. "Nor will you. And you'll find that out when you try to raise your army."—he looked to Kara and walked toward her.—"You already know the courage in your village. They're very brave at pelting young girls with vegetables."

"It must start somewhere." Kara said. She looked to me. "Corey, are you coming?"

I nodded. "Do I have a choice? If Ben is with Einon, I have to find him and try and get him on our side. Which shouldn't be too hard…I hope."

Bowen glared at me, and Kara looked over to Draco. "Will you wish us luck, Dragon?"

Draco looked over to the four of us, and he began to speak. "Long ago, when man was young, and the dragon already old, the wisest of our race took pity on man. He gathered all the dragons and made them swear to watch over man, always, and at the moment of his death, the night became alive with those stars,"—he motioned to the Draco Constellation—"and thus was born the Dragon's heaven. But, when we die, not all dragons are permitted to this shining place…No, we have to earn it. And if we don't, our spirits disappear as if we never were. And that's why I shared my life force with a dying boy, so I would reunite man and dragon, and ensure my place among my ancient brothers of the sky."

So, he was the dragon that shared his heart with Einon. No surprise there. Well, no one else looked too surprised anyway, but in a way, the only reason Draco did it was so he would go to heaven…that could be interpreted as fairly selfish, or not. Whatever. "But…my sacrifice became my sin." Draco finished.

"It was you." Bowen said, staring at Draco. "Your heart beats in Einon's breast."

Draco jumped from his perch and landed in front of Bowen. "Yes…my half heart that cost me all of my soul. Even then I knew his bloodthirsty nature…but I thought my heart could change him. My God, I was so naive."

"No more than I." Bowen said, turning around. "All my life I've dreamed of serving noble kings…noble ideals…Dreams die hard and you hold them in your hands long after they've turned to dust…"—he quickly turned.—"I will not be that naïve again." He said, almost as if with new resolve.

"Mhm." Draco said, as if Bowen's words had just helped him make some large decision. "Kara, I will go with you." He said, turning. Huh. Cool! Draco's with us. Bowen stared at Draco, before looking away and leaving us. "So be it….Farewell, Bowen." He said.

The four of us began walking. Myself behind Kara and Brother Gilbert, of course. I was walking parallel with Draco, and we walked until sunset. It was tiresome since it took so long, but Brother Gilbert and I set up a fire pit while Kara got some food (surprisingly) and firewood. Finally, we had Draco cook for us by fire-blowing on the food, which worked out perfectly. It was a nice rabbit, like last time. I had gotten accustomed to this tough meat, but as I said before, it would've been better with Barbeque Sauce and Milk. But water was fine.

After a small silence of eating, (we were mostly keeping to ourselves since Bowen left the group) Draco stood up. "I'm going back for Bowen…perhaps to convince him to rejoin us, and if not, then to see him to the next village safely. I'll meet you three back at Kara's village."

The three of us agreed, with nods and 'alrights,' and Draco flew off, into the distance.

- - -

Bowen sat under a small eave, trying to shield himself from the rain that had been drenching Avalon for the past hour or so. He looked around, both angry and hurt that the others were so willing to leave him here. He looked around, he had heard something. A voice?

_Valor…_

There it was again. What was it? It had said Valor…but…

_Valor…_

Bowen stood, and looked around. He decided to go investigate. He walked down to the large circle of pillars. This was where it was coming, because suddenly several voices were speaking. He whirled around, the area becoming bathed in warm, golden light. It wasn't sun…it was more like…the glow from a fire? Bowen looked to the head pillar, and from it formed a person…King Arthur was carved into the pillar.

_"A Knight is sworn to Valor."_ It said.

"A Knight, is sworn to Valor." Bowen repeated

_"His heart knows only virtue.."_

"His heart knows only virtue." Bowen repeated again.

_"His blade defends the helpless,"_

"His blade defends the helpless."

_"His might upholds the weak."_

"His might upholds the weak!"

_"His words speak only truth!"_

"His words speak only truth!"

_  
"His wrath undoes the wicked!"_

"His wrath undoes the wicked!!" Bowen found himself shouting, as the golden light faded. He wiped off his face from the rain, and thought. It was as if his beliefs were slapping him in the face. He knew what he needed to do…but it was too late to do anything about it…

Until Draco came in from behind one of the pillars. Bowen stood in his position, as Draco came up behind him and shielded Bowen from the rain. Bowen looked up to his partner. His friend. "I will go with you." He said, staring at Draco, who gave a pleased smile.


	11. The Fight Against Einon

**Chapter 11: The Fight Against Einon**

Kara, Brother Gilbert and I went on alone. The walk took nearly a day, and we finally made it to the village near sunset. We went in, and found who was considered the leader, other than Brok: Hewe.

"Now I know you're completely mad!" he said, speaking to Kara and stomping away from us. We followed. "You want us to follow you, a kid, and a priest against Einon."

"Yes." Kara replied.

"To hell more like." Hewe spat.

"But this time we can win! You don't understand—"

"I don't want to understand! I understand this!"—he motioned to his eye patch—"I understand 6 years in a quarry! That's all I need to understand!"

"Yes…I know. Believe me, I know what you've been through, Hewe." Kara said. We were still following. "But this time we've been joined—"

"—Only a fool would be mad enough to join you!"

"Oh, Hewe! You're not listening to what I'm saying!"

"I don't want to listen!" Hewe yeled, raising his shovel. "I've had enough of your mischief! Now get out—"

Suddenly, an arrow slammed into his shovel, and he whirled over to where it came from. Bowen came riding down! It was amazingly impossible. Last time we saw him, he was in Avalon, and Draco went back for him…but there was no Draco. Weird.

"Save your strength for the fight against Einon." Bowen said.

"There isn't any fight against Einon." Hewe said angrily.

"I'm going to start one."

"You and what army, Knight?"

Bowen said nothing, but instead ushered his horse on, up to a hill. He got to the end of the hill, facing the sunset. He turned around, lifted his bow, and Draco came flying up, and over toward the village, with Bowen riding back. When he was back, Hewe, who was stunned, agreed to the fight, thinking that with a dragon on their side, that we were invincible!

- - -

The night was long, and sleep was quick. I was looking forward to sleeping in a bed and sleeping in for once. I was wrong. I was awoken by a trill sound of a horn.

"Ahh!" I cried, falling out of my bed. I hopped up and looked around. Bowen was still in his bed, and Kara was holding a horn…thing.

"Battle horn." She said, "Good tone, don't you think?"

"Mm." Bowen replied, closing his eyes again. The trill horn sounded again. I got up and tossed my blankets onto my bed. (I was in full clothing.) I slipped on some shoes, mumbling about how I was annoyed that we had to get up so early.

"Sun's up, Knight!" Kara said, tossing a random shirt at Bowen. "So's the army. Why aren't you? Hm?" She seemed to forget I was here. "Breakfast. C'mon. Time's wasting."

"Good morning to you, too." Bowen said bitterly.

Kara, a crazy-large super-ax of death like the one from the cannibalistic village straight out of the horror movie was in her hand as she knelt down by Bowen. "Hm." She said, "That beard could use a trim." She said, moving the ax to his face. He grabbed it quickly and glared at her. "Don't worry." She said, "You taught me well."

"To cut throats, not to shave them." Bowen retorted. I laughed. He glared at me, then back at Kara.

"Fine." She said, standing and walking toward the door. "You don't want to look like a victorious gentleman?"

"Not victorious yet." He said, "Don't be overconfident."

Kara stopped near the door. "You're my confidence." She said quietly. She turned and then spoke louder. "I've never been more sure of anything in my life."

- - -

Later on in the morning, I was redressed. In my new armor! It was awesome. A little annoying and leathery…but awesome nonetheless. Bowen brought Brother Gilbert and I to the archery range for some practice. He was lecturing us.

"You've never fired a bow in your life, in anger or in practice?" He asked.

"No." Brother Gilbert replied.

Bowen stared, and then looked back and forth between us. He went to stand behind and coach us. "Draw your bow. Sights along the arrow. Release." He instructed. We did so. Brother Gilberts arrow zinged to the dummy's head. Hewe, Bowen and I stared at him. Mine went to the dummy's shoulder.

"Beginner's Luck!" Hewe insisted. "Try again."

Brother Gilbert shot again. It hit the dummy's crotch. Ow. Glad I'm on Brother Gilbert's side.

"Brother Gilbert." Bowen said, giving him a pat on the shoulder. "You're a natural!"

- - -

I decided I was better fitted for swords. So, I was on my way to the arena…thing, in the middle of the village, when Kara was trying to ax a log to death. What is it with her and axes?

"Easy!" Bowen said, walking up. "Here, Widen your stance."—he stood behind her, and held her arm, helping her out.—"Up. Down."—he motioned with the ax, hitting the log.—"Up. Down. One Fluid stroke!"

Kara stepped back and looked at Bowen, and to the ax. "This could cleave a man's skull?"

Bowen took the ax, and chucked it at a fruit, hitting it dead center. If he was a foot off, that would've been my stomach. "Holy crap!" I said, jumping. "Watch it!" I yelled, glaring.

Bowen ignored me, and looked to Kara, "Like a pudding." He said, answering her question.

I continued to the training place thing, where I can test myself out with a sword. When I got there, I grabbed a sword, and stepped into the ring, where people watching. There was a large burly man also with a sword. Crap. He attacked, with a downward cut to my head, and I deflected it. He went for the side, I deflected it again, and then he went down toward my legs, and I deflected that! Wow. That was one of my weak spots. So, my confidence grew. I attacked, going for a smack to the shoulder, which he just barely deflected. I fainted to hit his legs, spun around and hit his shoulder on the opposite side. Good thing he was wearing armor. So, this guy seemed untrained. Good thing me and Ben practiced.

- - -

Up on the hill overlooking the village, Brok was with his hawk. He tossed it to the air, commanding 'Eat.' The bird did so. He looked down to his village…to see them practicing, and suddenly, a piercing roar split the air, as a dragon far below bellowed out to the village. Brok's horse leaped, and he yelped, riding back to the castle.

- - -

Ben was walking around the castle, still mulling over what happened at the river. He walked up to the balcony, to see several men around the table, Felton and Brok being one of them. "I need more men!" Brok demanded.

"It's a waste of money!" Felton said, "It's just a few peasants waving pitchforks! I've noticed they're all on your land. You're not to busy hawking in your old age to keep control of your minions, are you?"

"EXCUSE ME?" Brok yelled, grabbing at Felton's throats.

Einon ran down and separated them, holding then by their shoulders. "I'm just saying that any one of us is worth a hundred of them!" Felton said.

Einon smirked. "The brave Felton…" he said. "An army unto himself."—he shoved Felton's head down and screamed, "SO? I KNOW THIS MAN WHO LEADS THEM, AND I WILL NOT UNDERESTIMATE HIM! HIM OR THE DRAGON!"

"Don't be afraid of the Dragon, my son." Aislinn said, standing in the archway. Ben turned around to look at her.

"I'm afraid of nothing!" Einon responded. "NOTHING! You understand?!" He gave one last shove on Felton's face, and went to follow his mother.

"A mother's gift to her son." She showed him 5 foreign men. "The finest to be had."

"The finest what?" Einon asked.

"Dragonslayers." Aislinn replied, smiling.

- - -

"Have you thought beyond tomorrow?" Draco asked. He and Bowen were up upon a hill, overlooking the village, the sunset looming behind them.

"It's hard to see that far." Bowen responded.

"Look at the camp…" Draco said, "What do you see? What do you hear?"

Bowen thought for a moment, and responded, "Hope."

"Exactly." Draco said, "Down there you have life and song and courage. You'll have all you ever need. And now…so do I."

Draco laid down next to Bowen, and Bowen leaned onto Draco, the two looking out down to the village.


	12. An Unacceptable Loss

**Author's Note: I'd like to think of this as the most physically dramatic chapter yet. I can't believe I've gotten this far...I'm already planning a sequal. :P Maybe I'll finish it by week's end!**

* * *

**Chapter 12: An Unacceptable Loss.**

The night was long. I hardly slept. I seriously don't think I've ever been this nervous. Not even when I had to go to the Masquerade Dance and I was dancing with my friends girlfriend (which got better, by the way) or even when I first went to 9th grade public school. Not even the time I had to go get my toe stabbed six times with a needle in order to get an ingrown toenail. Not once. I hardly slept, or anything. When I woke up, I put on my leather and chain-mail armor, and tied a sword to my belt. I nearly threw up when I got out of bed, because my stomach was so damn knotted.

Early in the morning, around eight, we got up, and prepared. Bowen got a horse. I did too, and we rode, leading the horse-less villagers. I was in charge of the Left flank. Not only was this my first battle, I had to LEAD people. Not good for pressure. The villagers, the main flank that is, all lined just in the clearing of the castle. I stood to the side, on my horse, while Bowen rode back and forth rallying up the village.

- - -

Ben was fully clad in metal armor, a helmet in the crook of his arm like a Basketball. On his left hip was a sword. He stood, in a daze, looking out over to the multitudes of villagers, jeering at the castle. He was quickly brought out of his stun, by Einon's voice.

"He dares defy me at my own gates, LOOK AT HIM!" Einon cried, referring to Bowen. "Well, his code dies once and for all!"

Einon jumped back, about to go running out to defeat the villagers all by himself, but Felton stopped him. "No! We're safe here, your majesty!" he said, "That rabble couldn't possibly storm the castle! By tonight, they'll be cold and wet and tired, they'll probably just..limp off home!" Einon ignored him and tried running again, "We're safe here, Einon! Remember your father!"

That seemed to make Einon wake up. It didn't help Ben any. In some ways, he hoped Felton was right, because he didn't want to see anyone get hurt. He had a new mission. He realized that these guys were the villains, so he had to get back to Corey's side…somehow, if he wasn't killed first. Getting killed would be bad. He looked around. Soon, Einon commanded them to go! The large group went down, mounted horses, and rode out, into the field, about a kilometer or so from the villagers.

"LET'S SHEAR THEM LIKE THE SHEEP THEY ARE!" Einon cried. He galloped forward, the others did the same.

- - -

"To the Forest!" Bowen cried. The villagers, Bowen, and I all rode back, into the forest. "Form up! Form up!" Bowen cried.

The multitudes of horses came flooding through the forest. I stood near the left flank, and watched as fire surrounded Einon's troups.

"Second line!" Bowen yelled, "Right flank advance!"

"Left Flank Advance!" I yelled, as loud as I could. My side went rushing in at the same time as the right flank, fully surrounding Einon's troops. I stayed off to the side, watching the scene…when I saw Ben. He looked panicked…really panicked…and overwhelmed. "BEN!" I cried, trying to get his attention. He couldn't hear me.

"SCATTER OR DIE!" I heard. "SCATTER OR DIE!" I jumped off my horse. It was Einon. I went running out, pulling out my sword. They were scattering. I ran towards Ben, but I was stopped. A sword nearly chopped me in half! I was lucky my sword was in the position it was in. I attacked, side-sweeping, and then feinting and going for the head. Both were just barely deflected. I attacked for the legs, and then kneed the guard in the stomach. He doubled over, and I bashed him over the head with my hilt.

"RETREAT!" Einon cried. I looked around. We were winning! There were hardly any people there. I looked around…and everything slowed down. Ben was off his horse, which was probably dead. His lip was bleeding and he was trying to fend off two villagers. I ran after him, trying to stop them. I didn't want him to get hurt…let alone killed. As I was running, the next thing I knew I was bashing against a large brown thing, and then smashing to the ground. I looked up to see a brown horse running off in the distance…and then I looked to Ben…I stood up and looked around. I found him, but suddenly, he wasn't able to stop the attackers. He was stabbed in the stomach. Hard. I could hear his scream all the way from where I was. The villager jerked the sword out of his abdomen, and ran off. I shouted at them to find a medic, or something…but I was too late. I ran faster and faster, but when I got there…his body was gone.

"RETURN TO THE CASTLE!" Time sped up again. "RETREAT!" Einon was running off.

I looked around wildly for Ben's body. It was nowhere. "Brother Gilbert!" Bowen cried, "It's Einon! Stop him!"

Einon had stopped, looking at his surroundings. I looked to Brother Gilbert. He was mumbling something, but soon, he shot. The arrow landed straight in Einon's heart. He gasped. And then, Draco, who was flying around the castle, shouted, and fell. The lump that was already in my throat just grew bigger. I wanted to puke…first Ben, now Draco. Then, I heard the most gut-wrenching sound. Einon slowly pulled the arrow from his heart with a loud squelch. He then looked around, said something, and rode away.

- - -

"I go to save the Dragon!" Bowen cried.

It had been nearly an hour since the guards retreated. I stood, against the tree, unable to move. Ben was dead, and Draco was apparently going to die too. "Who will go with me?!"

I looked around. The only one that stepped up was Kara. I thought for a moment. The last thing I wanted here was to fight…but I thought I should at least make the best of what I had. I must be an optimist. Maybe I didn't want Ben's death to go unaccounted for…I don't know. I soon stood up and followed Brother Gilbert, who followed Bowen and Kara. The four of us spent the next hour or so walking to the castle.

- - -

The stars twinkled in the dark night sky. Below in the Castle's courtyard was a dragon, chained to the ground. The only light was from orange glowing torches lining the walls. From the shadows, stepped Aislinn, the daughter of the Celts, and mother of the King. A dragonslayer who was guarding Draco, bowed to her. She stabbed him with a dagger.

"Come from the shadows, Aislinn." Draco said softly. "Come where I can see you."

Aislinn came walking out, clearly out of breath. She kneeled. "You know why I've come." She said.

Draco nodded. "I know," he said, sighing, "In giving my heart, I've taken on every evil stirring in his evil breast. Even the pain of his death must be mine." There was no need to mention who he was speaking of.

"You cannot blame yourself…" she responded, her eyes full of tears. "Death without immortality?"

"That was not the only reason." Draco said, "I had to wait for a time when man would not make my mistake, and let tyranny thrive. When there would be those who remember the once ways, and remember that even in the darkness, there is still light." He attempted to life his head, but soon grew frustrated. "I cannot see! Are the stars shining tonight?"

Aislinn looked up. "Brightly, my lord. Brightly."

Draco nodded. "Then let us end it."

Aislinn picked up a large spear, that the dragonslayer held. She positioned it toward Draco. "Forgive me.." she said, beginning to thrust downwards. She was intercepted by Einon, who grabbed and held the spear between them. Draco roared.

"I know why you brought me the dragonslayers." Einon said. "You wanted them to kill him because you wanted me dead."

"I wanted to correct a mistake made years ago when I saved a creature not worth saving." She said, the words sour in her mouth.

Einon angrily jerked the spear from her. "How un-motherly of you."

She said nothing, but instead turned around and walked through a small corridor. Einon followed. Soon, all that was heard was the swish of the spear, and the scream of a woman in pain. Draco roared loudly.


	13. Draco's Sacrifice

**Chapter 13: Draco's Sacrifice.**

The four of us: Bowen, Kara, Brother Gilbert, and I all went to the castle. It was dark when we got there. Kara showed us a tunnel that went straight through to the castles basement. We were just in, walking through the platform over the water, we all simultaneously turned, to see Hewe and several other villagers coming through.

"We have to open the gates." He said, "The rest of us are waiting outside. Go save your dragon, Bowen."

Frankly, I was still in shock, and I was afraid, which somehow made me think easier. We followed Kara, up to the top, where Einon's room was…it was nice…except for the fact he was laying in his bed waiting for us.

"Well well well." He said, looking at us. "What a pleasant surprise. I expected you, Bowen, but with my bride to be as well? And with a priest and witness to wed us."

"To bury you." Bowen retorted. I unsheathed my sword, and held it in front of myself. Einon sat up.

"Well, To bury one of us." Einon jumped up and attacked Bowen. He called for us to go, so we all left the room as fast as possible, to leave Bowen and Einon to fight. Right as we got to the hallway, we were met with an intersection. Crap. There was a door in front of us, and two corridors to either side.

"Lets split up and find Draco." I said. "Kara, go to the left, Brother Gilbert to the right. I'll go forward." They agreed, and went. I opened the door, to be met with another corridor. Swell. I ran down it as fast as I could, and burst into a room with a table in front of me…it must've been a dining room. In it was a guard. He saw, screamed and attacked me. I deflected, and went offensive, and attacked, somehow ending up slicing his wrist. He screamed in pain, and bent over. I kicked him in the head and kept running. I burst through several empty hallways. I could hear a ruckus below me. That's probably where everyone was. I ran out on a balcony bridge thing…overlooking Draco! Yes!

On the downside, there was a dragon slayer with another crazy-large super-ax of death. What was up with these things? There was a lot of them. He shouted at me in a foreign language, and ran at me. I braced myself, and he lunged at me. I was able to deflect his blow with my sword. He did the same thing. This time my sword shattered. Great. He attacked, and I did the only logical thing. I ran at him and head-butted him in the stomach. He dropped the ax, and apparently in the attacks we ended up near the edge of the bridge, so he ended up toppling over.

"Bowen!" I heard. I twisted around. It was Draco. I looked around…Bowen was hanging off the tower. He bashed Einon—who he was still fighting with—over the head with a rock. Who gasped and stepped backwards. Suddenly, Bowen had a crazy-large super-ax of death…There's a lot of those. He swung it at Einon, and soon got it hooked in some wood, which swung over and around. Einon tried to attack, but lost his balance. He fell. Hard. Straight through concrete and wood. Ouch! Now, Bowen was falling, but was slowed down on a rope by a large basket on the other side. There was another Dragon slayer. Bowen let the basket o' bricks fall on him. Then there was another about to shoot him with an arrow, but Draco managed to shoot a fire ball at him. He screamed and fell backwards. Bowen went running to Draco. I looked down over the bridge…it was nearly a 6 foot drop…I decided to go for it. There was a few baskets under me anyway.

I jumped over, and landed hard, my legs sending painful tremors up my bones…but I kept running, to Draco.

"Now it's you, Bowen!" Draco said, "It's you that has to do it!"

"What are you talking about?" I asked, jogging up.

"As the heart binds Einon to me in life, it binds us in death!" Draco said.

"That's not true!" Bowen shouted, removing chains from Draco's head.

"You've seen that it is!" Draco replied, "Through the heart we share each other's pains and power, but through my half beats the life source! For Einon to die, I must die!"

"Einon is dead!" Bowen insisted.

"He lives!"

"It doesn't matter." Bowen continued, "Don't you hear it? Our rebels have stormed the castle. Alive or dead, Einon's beaten, we've won!"

"Bowen's right!" I said, stepping up, "We can put him in solitary confinement, and then…"

"You will never win until Einon's evil is destroyed, and to do that, you must destroy _me_!" Draco cried, looking at us both.

"No…" Bowen said. I looked at Draco…was this a dragon with a suicide wish or something?

"Once you swore your sword and service were mine!" Draco shouted, "To call when I had need of you, to ask what I would of you! I hold you to your vow, Knight!" Draco's head twisted to where Einon had fallen. "He's coming. Coming to stop you."

But all that came was Kara. She looked down the hole where Einon had fallen and shook her head.

"You're the last…" Bowen said, turning toward Draco.

"My time is over. STRIKE!"

"You are my friend,"

"THEN AS MY FRIEND, STRIKE PLEASE!" Draco yelled still louder. I stepped back, dazed by the whole thing. For me, reality was setting back in and my adrenaline wore off.

"I can't…"

"Then I will make you." Draco lashed out, and attempted to claw at Bowen. I jumped…literally. Bowen yelped in surprise too.

"Fight back, Dragon slayer! Defend yourself!" Draco yelled. He shot out two jets of fire from his nostrils, Bowen standing in between them. When they stopped, Bowen tossed his ax to the ground. "PICK IT UP!" Draco yelled.

"Bowen!" I cried, pointing. Einon was grabbing Kara.

"Move, and she dies!" Einon yelled. Brother Gilbert was apparently up on the stairs, watching. Draco acted, and bit his hand. Hard. Einon screamed in pain and let Kara go. She hopped down and ran over to us. Einon pulled a dagger from his belt and also jumped down, running after Bowen.

Everything slowed down again. Einon came running. Bowe turned to Draco, who sat up, and opened his scale to reveal his heart. Bowen threw the ax. Suddenly, everything that had happened since I got here flashed before my eyes. Crashing near the river…Meeting Draco, Bowen, and Brother Gilbert…Tricking villages into paying us…Finding out Ben was here with me…Going to Avalon…Rallying the troops in the village…the battle…Ben's death. It all seemed like it happened weeks and weeks ago…

The ax made contact with Draco's heart. He fell over with a grunt. Einon gasped, and Bowen flipped him over in a defensive roll, shouting as he did so. He looked down, and then to Draco, who gave him a small smile, before closing his eyes, and resting his head. The dagger in Bowen's hand clattered to the ground. He walked forward, stunned. The villagers all burst through the gates behind Kara, but they soon stopped.

"What now, Draco.." Bowen said, falling to his knees in front of Draco's body…"Without you…What do we do? Where do we turn?"

Suddenly, Draco's body vanished, and was replaced with a yellow, glowing essence. "To the stars, Bowen…" Draco's last words echoed through the courtyard. "To the stars…"

The gas floated up to the sky, in the middle of the Draco Constellation…people were in tears, I included. The stars all came down and formed into the gas, and soon burst into millions upon millions of specks…before coming back and rearranging the Draco Constellation. The right eye star giving off one last sparkle…


	14. Epilogue

**Epilogue**

It's been nearly a week now, since the battle at Einon's castle. Bowen and Kara have become rulers of the land, and so far they've ruled extremely fair…They offered Brother Gilbert a head at a new Monastery, and I was instated as an advisor. And why not? I figured I'd get back home once I witnessed the movies 'end.' But apparently not. Which frankly sucked.

I hated not knowing. Once I couldn't get back home, reality was like a slap in the face. Ben was dead, Draco was dead, and I had no way of getting home. Would they notice I was gone? Well, obviously, but how would they explain my disappearance? Seriously. There were no banks, so I couldn't pull a Pendragon and put a note in a bank account so they would find it. So…I was stuck.

I did a lot of mourning and moping around. I stayed in my house in the village, and pretty much stayed there. After a while I decided to go out. I took a walk, the villagers greeting me as I went…it was weird. Kinda cool, but weird. I decided to go to the River where I first met Bowen. When I got to the area where the hill was where I tripped, I was stopped by Brother Gilbert.

"Corey!" he called, jogging up to me, Merlin (the mule) behind him. "Where are you going?"

"The River…" I said, turning. I motioned toward it, and looked back. It was utterly covered in forestry. Wait…it was? Since when! I turned back and looked. It was the path to my creek…wow. Maybe I was going home! "I…have to go." I said, turning back around. "And I don't think I'll be back."

"I don't understand…" Brother Gilbert stuttered.

I shrugged. "Neither do I." I said, "Um…tell Bowen and Kara I said good-bye…and good luck." I smiled to him, and turned. He simply stood there. I don't think he could see my creek, but I could. I went down the familiar path, nearly at a jog…before I tripped and fell. Again.

I somersaulted over and landed under two arching branches, between two logs that used to be one, but were cut to make a path. I looked around…this was definitely my creek.

"Well you took long enough." I heard a voice behind me. "It's been nearly half-an hour."

I turned around…to see Ben! I jumped up. "Ben!" I cried, "What are you doing here?! I thought you were killed!"

He shrugged. "I was. But the next thing I knew, I fell back, and here I was completely unharmed."

"Oh…" I went over and sat next to him…and then whapped him upside the head. "Next time tell me that you're alive!"

He rubbed the back of his head. "I'll make sure to do that…So, what happened?"

I told him everything. The raid on the castle, Draco's death, and even how Bowen and Kara became rulers. After thinking on it, it was totally cool, now that everything is (mostly) okay. I also mentioned how awesome it was to see what happened AFTER the movie. But I don't really think Ben cared. Heh. "But anyway!" I concluded, "I think it's time for breakfast." I realized I was fairly hungry. I tried not to show too much emotion to Ben's being back. That would be embarrassing…but still.

In the end, it turned out we were gone for maybe an hour…possibly two. But, one thing was for sure. I'd never be able to watch Dragonheart the same way again…

**End.**

* * *

**Author's Notes: Wow. It's over already. " It feels like only a few months ago that I started it. Which technically, it was, but still. It's amazing! How this turned out, I am definitely very very proud of it. Well, I guess there's only one thing I can say now...**

**Sequel time. :D**


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